Submersible pump equipped with cutter

ABSTRACT

A submersible pump having a vane-wheel formed with cutter means at the bottom inlet portion thereof which cooperates with cutter means which are formed on the pump casing and which are disposed below the cutter means on the vane wheel. Foreign objects pumped into the inlet openings with the liquid being pumped are cut into pieces thereby not reducing the pumping efficiency of the pump.

United States Patent Iwahara 1 Feb. 18, 1975 [54] SUBMERSIBLE PUMPEQUIPPED WITH 2,658,453 11/1953 Walters 241/185 A CUTTER 3,155,04611/1964 Vaughan 241/185 A [75] Inventor: Masakuni Iwahara, Kishiwada,FOREIGN PATENTS OR APPLICATIONS Japan 468,457 7/1939 Great Britain241/46.11

[73] Assignee: Elepon Technical Center Kabushiki Kaisha, OsakaPrefecture, Japan Primary ExaminerRoy Lake I Assistant Examiner-Craig R.Feinberg [22] Elm! May 1973 Attorney, Agent, or Firm-Donald D. Jeffery[21] Appli No.: 361,244

[57] ABSTRACT [30] Forelgn Apphcamm Pnomy Data A submersible pump havinga vane-wheel formed with p 1972 Japanm' 47406269 cutter means at thebottom inlet portion thereof which cooperates with cutter means whichare formed on the [52] US. Cl. 24l/46.11, 241/185 u casing and Which aredisposed below the cutter [51] Int. Cl. ..B02c18/40 means on the vanewhee]. Foreign Objects pumped [58] Field of Search 241/46.06, 46.11, 185into the inlet Openings with the liquid being pumped are cut into piecesthereby not reducing the pumping [56] References Cited ffi i f the pUNITED STATES PATENTS 2 Cl 5 D F 2,496,359 2/1950 Rymann 241/46.11raw'ng gums SUBMERSIBLE PUMP EQUIPPED WITH CUTTER BACKGROUND OF THEINVENTION The present invention relates asindicated to a submersiblepump equipped with a cutter for pumping water or other liquid containingadmixtures or foreign objects, which are cut into pieces by means ofcutter blades provided therein.

In previous submersible pumps of the type having an open vane-wheel,attempts have been made to cut foreign objects by means of the gapformed between the vanes of said vane-wheel and the pump casing disposedin confronting relation thereto.

Although submersible pumps of the open vane-wheel type have theadvantage of pumping water or other liquid irrespective of itsadmixtures, they have the disadvantage that their pumping efficiency issignificantly reduced because the cutting of foreign objects is donemerely by rocking them between the vanes of said open type vane-wheeland the pump casing. The pumping efficiency of such pumps isparticularly low when compared with a pump using a closed typevane-wheel.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION In view of the above disadvantages ofconventional pumps, the primary object of the present invention is toprovide a pump of high efficiency by utilizing a closed type vane-wheelin combination with cutters provided to positively cut foreign objectsinto pieces so that water or other liquid and its admixtures can bepumped in and out easily without substantially reducing the pumpingefficiency.

The pump according to the present invention utilizes a closed typevane-wheel and foreign objects sucked in with water or other liquid arecut into-pieces at the inlet portions of said vane-wheel and the pumpcasing by providing cutter blades respectively thereat so that it ispossible for the pump to obtain a pumping efficiency as high as in thecase of pure water or other liquid having no admixtures contained.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE APPLICATION DRAWINGS The invention is describedhereinbelow in detail with reference to the accompanying drawings inwhich:

FIG. 1 is a vertical sectional view of the pumpconstructed in accordancewith the present invention;

FIG. 2 is a sectional view taken on line 2-2 of FIG. 1;

FIG. 3 is a view similar to FIG. 2 and showsa moditied form of cuttingblades on the pump casing;

FIG. 4 is a sectional view similar to FIGS. 2 and 3 showing furthermodified forms of cutting blades; and

FIG. 5 is a fragmentary enlarged view of a portion of FIG. 4.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS 2 8 of the pump casing3, outlet 9 and a circular passage 11 formed in the vane-wheel.

As can best be seen in FIG. 2, a'single cutter blade 6 is connected withthe peripheral inner wall forming the inlet portion of the vane-wheel 2while the pump casing 3 surrounding the bottom of the vane-wheel 2 hasin its inlet portion 8 a cutter blade 7 which is connected to the innerperipheral wall forming the inlet portion 8.

FIG. 3 shows another embodiment of the invention having a constructionslightly different from that of FIG. 2, with the pump casing 3 having atits inlet portion 8 a cross-shaped cutter blade 7a connected'to theinner peripheral wall forming the inlet portion 8.

FIGS. 4 and 5 showanother embodiment of the invention wherein the closedtype vane-wheel 2 and the pump casing 3, respectively, are each formedwith a plurality of cutting blades, there being two in the formillustrated, extending radially inwardly from the inner peripheral wallsof the vane-wheel and casing which define the inlet openings. Thus, thevane-wheel 2 is formed with cutter blades in the form of annular pro=jections commonly designated at 12 and the casing 3 is formed withcutter blades in the form of angular projections commonly designated at13. V

Referring now to the operation of the pump, when the closed typevane-wheel 2 is rotated by the driving shaft 1, water or other liquid issucked in to be pumped at a lower pressure at the central part of theinlet opening of the vane-wheel, with the liquid being at a higherpressure at the outer circle of the inlet opening due to the centrifugaleffect. Foreign objects pumped in together with water or other liquidare cut into pieces by means of the cutter blades 6, 7 provided at therespective inlet portions 10 and 8 of the vane-wheel 2 and .the pumpcasing 3, more particularly, by means of the cutter blade 6 connected tothe inner peripheral wall of the inlet portion 10 of the vane-wheel 2and the cutter blade 7 or 7a connected with the inner peripheral wall ofthe inlet portion 8 of the pump casing 3. In the FIGS. 4-5 form of theinvention. the cutting is effected by means of the angular cutter blades12 and 13 which extend radially inwardly from the inner periphery ofeach inlet portion 10 and 8 of the vane-wheel and the pump casing. Inall of the embodiments, the cutter blades at the inlet portion 8 of thepump casing 3 serve as a fixed cutter while the cutter blades 6 carriedby the rotating vane-wheel act as the rotating cutters, whereby foreignobjects are cut into pieces by these cutters crossing with each other.Thus, foreign objects, after having been cut into pieces, are deliveredto the outlet 9 together with water or other liquid through the circularpassage 11.

The present invention thus provides a pump of high efficiency in whichforeign objects are cut between each inlet portion 10 and 8,respectively, of the vanewheel 2 and the pump casing 3 as contrastedwith conventional pumps which attempt to cut foreign objects simply byrocking them in the gap between the vanes of the vane-wheel and the pumpcasing, with pumping efficiency thereby significantly reduced.

I claim:

1. A submersible pump equipped with cutters for cutting foreign materialcarried by the liquid being pumped comprising:

a. a rotating vane-wheel having a circular lower inlet portion, acircular outlet portion, and a cutter bar carried at the circular lowerinlet portion thereof, said cutter bar being flat and extendingdiametrically across said circular lower inlet portion in a planeperpendicular to the axis of rotation of said vanewheel, with the areaabove said cutter bar' being entirely open in said vane-wheel and saidcircular lower inlet portion likewise being open except for said cutterbar so as to minimize flow restriction through said vane-wheel,

b. a fixed pump casing having a lower inlet portion concentricallyarranged around the circular lower inlet portion of said vane-wheel,said casing being formed with cutter means extending into said lowerinlet portion of said casing below said cutter bar of said vane-wheel,said cutter means comprising flat of said casing comprises a generallycross-shaped cutter bar.

1. A submersible pump equipped with cutters for cutting foreign materialcarried by the liquid being pumped comprising: a. a rotating vane-wheelhaving a circular lower inlet portion, a circular outlet portion, and acutter bar carried at the circular lower inlet portion thereof, saidcutter bar being flat and extending diametrically across said circularlower inlet portion in a plane perpendicular to the axis of rotation ofsaid vane-wheel, with the area above said cutter bar being entirely openin said vane-wheel and said circular lower inlet portion likewise beingopen except for said cutter bar so as to minimize flow restrictionthrough said vane-wheel, b. a fixed pump casing having a lower inletportion concentrically arranged around the circular lower inlet portionof said vane-wheel, said casing being formed with cutter means extendinginto said lower inlet portion of said casing below said cutter bar ofsaid vane-wheel, said cutter means comprising flat bar means extendingdiametrically across said lower inlet portion parallel to and spacedfrom said cutter bar carried by said vane-wheel, the lower inlet portionof said pump casing being entirely open except for said flat bar meansso as to not significantly adversely affect the volume of liquiddelivered to said pump, the rotation of said vane-wheel, and thus thecutter bar carried thereby, serving to cut into pieces foreign objectspumped into said inlet portions with the liquid being pumped.
 2. Thepump of claim 1 wherein said flat bar means of said casing comprises agenerally cross-shaped cutter bar.